HC Spartak Moscow - Severstal Cherepovets predictions and free betting tips [02/03/2024]

Playoff round of the Kontinental Hockey League, Gagarin Cup 2024. First round, Western Conference. Series score 1:0. One of the concluding matches of the day will be an attempt to still demonstrate that high-scoring hockey in the playoffs exists, it has been and will be again. The conference's fourth team will play against the fifth team. "Spartak" from Moscow will fight against "Severstal" from Cherepovets.

Spartak Moscow

The Moscow club continues to live in a reality where high-performance hockey is expected in every match. In the first series match against "Severstal", they started well by scoring three unanswered goals in the first period, leading everyone to believe that it would continue throughout the game. Nevertheless, it didn't. After a late first period goal from "Severstal", "Spartak" played so pragmatically that even Aleksey Zhamnov's Olympic team would be envious. But who are we to criticize "Spartak"'s game, when they achieved results in the first match of the series, claimed victory, and most importantly, they were not weaker than the opposing team.

However, let’s be honest, if "Severstal" were replaced with a more experienced team, it could be a problem, because the main concerns about the Cherepovets team relate to their execution of opportunities. On the other hand, there are virtually no issues with the Moscow club, except that they could be a bit more effective.

Severstal Cherepovets

Andrey Kozyrev's team, in the first playoff match, somehow collapsed when it seemed that "Severstal" should enter this match without pressure, without any nerves, because they had already surpassed the tasks set for this season and matched the record of the KHL regular season performance. Why "Severstal" woke up only in the second period is a question I can't answer, they just slept through the first period, overstrained, burnt out and that was it.

Yes, they began to return to their usual game phase at the end of the first period. But they managed to score only two goals, which didn’t even allow them to go into overtime. And now it's very interesting whether the team from Cherepovets will be able to correct this situation in the next match, I believe they can, because I saw some interesting aspects towards the end of the match.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Spartak Moscow and Severstal Cherepovets have played 41 matches against each other. In this confrontation, the Moscow team has 20 victories, while the Cherepovets team has won 21 matches. In this regular season, Spartak won three matches 6:4, 5:3, and 5:3. "Severstal" won their game with a score of 4:2. Spartak won the first playoff match with a score of 3:2.

Forecast

Even after the first match, it still seems to me that the teams are equal, so after two matches in the series, we will see a tie.

Forecast for the total

And for the totals, let's believe that they will score at least six goals combined and take TO (5.5) for 2.00, they were close to this in the first match.